System and methods for generating diversified vertical search listings

Abstract

A method of generating a diversified vertical search results listing, including listing attribute values related to search criteria and their frequency of occurrence to create a plurality of listings; creating a plurality of interval bands based on the plurality of listings; generating a random diversity score for each listing over a substantially uniform distribution within each of the plurality of bands; and sorting a set of search results for diversified listing in response to a user searching for the search criteria according to the diversity score of each listing.

1 . A method of generating a diversified vertical search results listing, comprising:
 listing attribute values related to search criteria and their frequency of occurrence to create a plurality of listings;   creating a plurality of interval bands based on the plurality of listings;   generating a random diversity score for each listing over a substantially uniform distribution within each of the plurality of bands; and   sorting a set of search results for diversified listing in response to a user searching for the search criteria according to the diversity score of each listing.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of bands are defined based on a number of listings available for each respective attribute value in response to a search query that includes an attribute of interest. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 including an additional relevancy factor in generating the diversity scores by incorporating the additional relevancy factor into the generated diversity scores.   
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the additional relevancy factor is incorporated into the diversity scores through:
 determining a relevancy score for the additional relevancy factor over each of the plurality of bands; and   combining the relevancy score for the additional relevancy factor with the diversity score of the attribute of interest separately in each of the plurality of bands to generate a plurality of newly calculated diversity scores across the plurality of bands.   
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein if a frequency distribution of the additional relevancy factor across the plurality of bands is not uniform, the method further comprises:
 generating a histogram for the relevancy scores of the additional relevancy factor with respect to the frequency distribution by mapping the relevancy scores based on a probability of occurrence within each of the plurality of bands; and   combining the histogram with respective diversity scores across the plurality of bands.   
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the histogram incorporates at least a third relevancy factor. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the additional relevancy factor comprises at least one of a click through rate (CTR) and a brand popularity metric. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the additional relevancy factor is incorporated into the diversity scores in real-time. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein sorting the set of search results is performed in advance of receiving a search query for the attribute of interest. 
   
   
       10 . A method of generating a diversified vertical search results listing, comprising:
 creating a table to list attribute values related to search criteria and their frequency of occurrence for an attribute of interest;   creating a plurality of interval bands based on a plurality of listings in the table;   generating a random diversity score for each listing over a substantially uniform distribution within each of the plurality of bands;   incorporating an additional relevancy factor into the generated diversity scores through:
 determining a relevancy score for the additional relevancy factor over each of the plurality of bands; and 
 combining the relevancy score for the additional relevancy factor with the diversity score in each respective band to generate a plurality of calculated final diversity scores across the plurality of bands; and 
   sorting a set of search results for diversified listing in response to a user searching for the search criteria according to the final diversity score of each listing.   
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein if a frequency distribution of the additional relevancy factor across the plurality of bands is not uniform, the method further comprises:
 generating a histogram for the relevancy scores of the additional relevancy factor with respect to the frequency distribution by mapping the relevancy scores based on a probability of occurrence within each of the plurality of bands; and   combining the histogram with respective final diversity scores across the plurality of bands to generate new diversity scores for use in sorting the set of search results.   
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the histogram incorporates at least a third relevancy factor. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the additional relevancy factor comprises at least one of a click through rate (CTR) and a historic level of user consumption. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the additional relevancy factor is incorporated into the diversity scores in real-time. 
   
   
       15 . A system to generate a diversified vertical search results listing, comprising a vertical search engine to process queries from a web site and to return results based on calculated relevancy scores;
 a database to store statistical data on attribute values associated with attributes of interest related to the queries, and to store listings on the attributes of interest and corresponding descriptive text; and   a diversity processing engine coupled with the vertical search engine and with the database, wherein the diversity processing engine incorporates listings statistics from the database to calculate diversity scores that produce a diversified set of listings for at least some of the attributes of interest, wherein the diversity processing engine:   creates a table for listing attribute values related to search criteria and their frequency of occurrence;   creates a plurality of bands based on a plurality of listings in the table;   generates a random diversity score for each listing over a substantially uniform distribution within each of the plurality of bands; and   sorts a set of search results for diversified listing of the attribute of interest according to the diversity score of each respective listing.   
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the database comprises a listings statistics database to store the statistical data on the attribute values, and a listings database to store the listings and related data. 
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the diversity score of each attribute value is statistically combined with respective relevancy scores of each attribute value to produce revised diversity scores across the plurality of bands. 
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of bands are defined based on a statistical frequency of listing respective attribute values when the attribute of interest is included in a search query without use of the diversity processing engine. 
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the diversity processing engine includes an additional relevancy factor in generating the diversity scores by incorporating the additional relevancy factor into the generated diversity scores. 
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the additional relevancy factor is incorporated into the diversity scores by the diversity processing engine, which:
 determines a relevancy score for the additional relevancy factor over each of the plurality of bands; and   combines the relevancy score for the additional relevancy factor with the diversity score of the attribute of interest separately in each of the plurality of bands to generate a plurality of newly calculated diversity scores across the plurality of bands.   
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein if a frequency distribution of the additional relevancy factor across the plurality of bands is not uniform, the diversity processing engine generates a histogram for the relevancy scores of the additional relevancy factor with respect to the frequency distribution by mapping the relevancy scores based on a probability of occurrence within each of the plurality of bands, and combines the histogram with respective diversity scores across the plurality of bands. 
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the histogram incorporates at least a third relevancy factor. 
   
   
       23 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the additional relevancy factor comprises at least one of a click through rate (CTR) and a brand popularity metric. 
   
   
       24 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the additional relevancy factor is incorporated into the diversity scores in real-time. 
   
   
       25 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the diversity processing engine sorts the set of search results for the diversified listing in advance of receiving a search query for the attribute of interest.